Ali vs Frazier II: 40 Years Later

[elmersalsa]

On January 28, 1974, the greats Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier squared off for the rematch of three years earlier at the same exact venue New York's Madison Square Garden. This time, none of the two were champions neither had undefeated records. Ali won by UD in a 12-round elimination for the world heavyweight crown held then by the great George Foreman. The same Foreman that destroyed Frazier a year earlier in Kingston, Jamaica in only 2 rounds.

The fight did not even came close as the FOTC, but had it moments. Frazier almost got stopped in round 2, but referee Tony Perez stopped the action thinking that the round was over. Frazier looked like he was in bad shape.

Also Frazier's corner complained about Ali's holding around Smokin' Joe's neck everytime they clinched, and Perez did not even took a point off Ali nor less a warning.

After the win, Ali at 32 was the number 2 contender for Foreman's title.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

I don't mean to set off ThatOne's bat signal, but the holding really was ridiculous.

[The Great John L]

I don't mean to set off ThatOne's bat signal, but the holding really was ridiculous.

Almost worthy of Wlad.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

I don't mean to set off ThatOne's bat signal, but the holding really was ridiculous.

Almost worthy of Wlad.

Another foul filled affair was Tyson/Ruddock II. Mike must have hit him full power in the balls about 50 times, Razor finally just wound up and nailed him back.

[The Great John L]

I don't mean to set off ThatOne's bat signal, but the holding really was ridiculous.

Almost worthy of Wlad.

Another foul filled affair was Tyson/Ruddock II. Mike must have hit him full power in the balls about 50 times, Razor finally just wound up and nailed him back.

Yeah, fun times for all. Most of the greats had certain "special" skills in their tool chest. Holmes was a master at thumbing, although I'm not sure it was intentional.

[Ambling Alp II]

One thing that is usually overlooked is the importance of the fight. Had Frazier won, Ali probably never gets a title shot, and there probably would not have been a 3rd fight with Frazier. At the very least, his legacy would have diminished greatly. On the other hand, a win for Frazier would have improved his career standing immensely.

It was one of the biggest wins of Ali's career; he needed to avenge the first fight and did.

[elmersalsa]

I saw the fight yesterday, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of it. The great Smokin' Joe came very motivated and trained hard for the fight, but it was OBVIOUS that he was not the same guy of the late 60s and early 70s (1967-71). He was much slower in this fight than in the FOTC.

The Greatest came also very motivated and trained hard too. He used more movement in this fight than in the FOTC. None of the two were in their primes, but, the great Ali was FRESHER than Smokin' Joe. I just see also that none of the referees of the two bouts took a point off Ali for holding behind the neck. At least referee great Arthur Mercante gave Ali a warning in FOTC, but referee Tony Perez??? He was HORRIBLE.

[elmersalsa]

The fight at the ABC studios with Howard Cossell in there was also ENTERTAINING. Many people believe that the great Muhammad Ali was afraid of the great Smokin' Joe in a REAL FISTFIGHT.

[fanman]

joe much much less reckless here, he didn't want the same punishment from fight 1. both probably looked pretty inferior to gf at the time.

[klompton]

Atrocious referee. Ruined the fight. He let Ali hold nearly 150 times (thats not an exaggeration). If you watch it on fast forward you can literally count 1, 2, 3, clinch, 1,2,3 clinch. It was awful. Ali should have been warned or DQd. Had he not been allowed to cling to Frazier so much I think the fight would have been a lot more like the FOTC and arguably Frazier would have won, as it was this fight is much closer than most remember.

[Chuck1052]

I am not saying that Carlos Padilla was the greatest referee in the world, but I liked the fact that he made it clear through his actions that he would not tolerate constant holding early in the third bout between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. That may have been a major reason why the third Ali-Frazier bout was far better than the second one, which did feature constant holding by Ali.

- Chuck Johnston